Weaving assistance apparatus and method therefor

ABSTRACT

A weaving assistance apparatus for facilitating differentiation of hair colours comprises a support-engaging portion and an abutting surface. The support-engaging portion has an opening at an end thereof for receiving a finger, and the abutting surface is arranged to provide a contrasting background for differentiating between differently coloured overlying hair strands.

The present invention relates to a weaving assistance apparatus of the type that, for example, is used to facilitate identification of coloured hair or coloured portions thereof.

In the field of hairdressing, in particular hair colouring, it is known to colour hair and that hair consequently has more than one colour. Furthermore, it is known to colour hair after an elapse of time following previous colouring of the hair. In this respect, growth of the hair results in development of uncoloured or untreated portions of hair between the roots of the hair at the scalp of the head to a point along the length of the hair where colouring or other treatment of the hair began the last time the hair was treated, i.e. at the scalp of the head when the hair was previously treated or coloured. It is often desirable to colour the new growth of the hair.

In some circumstances, it is desirable to colour strands of hair, leaving other strands uncoloured to remain their natural colour. Following growth of the hair treated in this way, it is known to segregate coloured or treated hair from uncoloured or untreated hair. This technique is known to hair colour technicians as “weaving”. This is the process of weaving a slim elongate element, for example a metal-ended tail comb, through the strands of hair to achieve segregation of the strands. However, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between uncoloured (or untreated) hair strands and coloured (or untreated) hair strands when weaving. Possible causes of the inability to distinguish between coloured and uncoloured hair strands are poor ambient lighting conditions and/or subtlety in the difference in colour between the coloured hair strands and the uncoloured hair strands. Poor visual acuity of the colour technician is also another possible cause of difficulty in distinguishing between the colours of hair strands.

As a result of inaccurate weaving, the hair becomes incorrectly treated or coloured. In this respect, one known possibility is that hair strands that hitherto have been uncoloured or untreated become coloured or treated. Another undesirable side-effect is that not all previously treated or coloured hair strands are selected for treatment and so some hair strands are not treated or coloured resulting in inconsistently coloured or treated strands. This yields an uneven or non-uniform colouring of the hair from root to end, resulting in a so-called “patchy” effect in the region of the newly grown hair since the previous treatment or colouring. Additionally, in some circumstances, incorrect identification of strands of hair to be coloured can lead to so-called “over-processing” of already treated or coloured portions of hair strands, which can weaken the over-processed hair and lead to breakage of the over-processed hair. In this respect, if a subject requires additional strands of hair, hitherto untreated, coloured, if previously treated hair strands are accidentally selected for colouring in addition to those untreated strands that require colouring, the previously treated strands can be weakened by additional unintentional treatment, i.e. over-processed.

It is therefore an object of the invention to obviate or at least mitigate the above described disadvantages.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a weaving assistance apparatus for facilitating differentiation of hair colours, the apparatus comprising: a support-engaging portion having an opening at an end thereof for receiving a finger; and an abutting surface arranged to provide a contrasting background for differentiating between differently coloured overlying hair strands.

The hair strands may overlie, when in use, the abutting surface.

The support-engaging portion may comprise the abutting surface.

The abutting surface may extend away from the support-engaging portion.

The apparatus may further comprise a longitudinal lip portion extending outwardly from the support-engaging portion; the longitudinal lip portion may comprise the abutting surface.

The abutting surface may extend substantially tangentially away from the support-engaging portion.

The longitudinal lip portion may be integrally formed with the support-engaging portion.

The abutting surface may extend substantially radially away from the support-engaging portion.

The longitudinal lip portion may be flexible. Alternatively, the longitudinal lip portion may be resiliently deformable.

The apparatus may further comprise an inner sheath coaxially located within the support-engaging portion for providing a comfortable fit for a finger. The fit may be snug.

The inner sheath may be removable from the support-engaging portion. The inner sheath may be formed from a breathable material. The inner sheath may be formed from a deformable foam material.

The apparatus may further comprise a secondary inner sheath coaxially located in the inner sheath in order to reduce an internal radius of a volume bounded by the inner sheath for receiving a finger therein, thereby providing a snug fit for the finger.

An internal radius of the support-engaging portion may be adjustable.

The abutting surface may comprise a coating to facilitate glide of hair strands over the abutting surface. The coating may be a Teflon®-type coating.

The apparatus may be arranged to surround, when in use, a digitus medius.

The support-engaging portion may comprise a longitudinal recess for abutting a finger thereagainst.

The longitudinal recess may be for receiving a digitus secundus thereagainst.

The support-engaging portion may be a tubular body.

The abutting surface may comprise lateral grooves formed therein.

The longitudinal lip portion may have an arcuate cross section. Alternatively, the longitudinal lip portion may be straight in cross section.

The tubular body may be a sheath.

The longitudinal lip portion may be removable.

The abutting surface may be replaceable.

An outer sheath may comprise the abutting surface; the outer sheath may have a predetermined externally facing surface colour.

The longitudinal lip portion may comprise a changeable surface colour.

The longitudinal lip portion may be arranged to carry a slidably removable colour card, portion of paper or sticker.

The abutting surface may comprise contrasting repeating dimensional surface changes in order to facilitate separation of a clearance between a first set of strands of hair and a second set of strands of hair for weaving.

The longitudinal lip portion may comprise a longitudinal formation or deformation in order to provide a clearance beneath hair when hair overlies the longitudinal lip portion. The support-engaging portion may comprise a longitudinal formation or deformation in order to provide a clearance beneath hair when hair overlies the support-engaging portion.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a disposable weaving assistance tool comprising the weaving assistance apparatus as set forth above in relation to the first aspect of the invention.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a weaving assistance apparatus for facilitating weaving of strands of hair, the apparatus comprising: a support-engaging portion having an opening at an end thereof for receiving a finger; and an abutting surface for hair to overlie, the abutting surface comprising contrasting and repeating dimensional surface changes in order to facilitate provision of a clearance between a first set of strands of hair and a second set of strands of hair for weaving.

The first and second sets of strands of hair may be interdigitated.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of weaving hair for selecting strands of hair having a predetermined colour, the method comprising: providing a weaving assistance apparatus; attaching the weaving assistance apparatus to a finger of a hand; laying strands of hair over the abutting surface of the weaving assistance apparatus, the strands of hair comprising strands of hair of a first colour and strands of hair of a second colour; and selectively separating strands of hair of a first colour from strands of hair of a second colour.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a weaving assistance apparatus is provided wherein the abutting surface comprises a longitudinal lip portion extending away from the support-engaging portion, and wherein the longitudinal lip portion has a row of teeth at an edge furthermost from the support-engaging portion, wherein a series of troughs are defined between adjacent teeth so that the first set of strands of hair during use overlie the teeth and the second set of strands of hair overlie the troughs to provide clearance between the first set of strands and the second set of strands.

The abutting surface according to any of the above-referenced aspects may comprise a series of longitudinally disposed upstanding pegs which act as a comb during use to keep hair overlying the abutting surface in place.

It is thus possible to provide a weaving assistance apparatus and method therefor that facilitates differentiation of hair strands of a first colour from hair strands of a second colour amongst a section of hair comprising hair strands of the first and second colours. Consequently, hair strands are not incorrectly subsequently treated resulting in incorrectly part-treated strands of hair and hence the colour applied to the head of hair of the subject does not appear poorly distributed, thereby improving the appearance of the hair of the subject. Additionally, the likelihood of colour technicians accidentally over-treating previously treated hair strands is reduced. Consequently, the well-being of previously treated hair strands is not diminished by further unnecessary treatment of the previously treated hair strands. Furthermore, stylists and/or colour technicians are also encouraged to weave strands of hair in a disciplined manner, resulting in better trained stylists and/or colour technicians.

At least one embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram in perspective view of a weaving assistance apparatus constituting an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram in perspective view of another weaving assistance apparatus constituting another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation of the apparatus of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are counterparts views of a further, disassembled, weaving apparatus constituting a further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the apparatus of FIGS. 2 to 5, when in use;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a weaving assistance apparatus constituting another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a weaving assistance apparatus constituting a further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a weaving assistance apparatus constituting yet a further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a weaving assistance apparatus constituting yet a further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11 is a front view of the weaving assistance apparatus of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is an end view of the weaving assistance apparatus of FIGS. 10 and 11; and

FIG. 13 is an isometric view of the weaving assistance apparatus of FIGS. 10 to 12.

Throughout the following description identical reference numerals will be used to identify like parts.

Referring to FIG. 1, a weaving assistance apparatus 100 for a hair colour technician comprises a tubular body 102. The tubular body 102 is, in this example, cylindrical in shape and has a first opening 104 at a first end 106 of the tubular body 102 and a second opening 108 at a second end 110 of the tubular body 102.

The tubular body 102 has an external surface 112 that serves as an abutting surface 114 for strands of hair to overlie when the weaving assistance apparatus 100 is in use. The abutting surface 114 is of a predetermined colour to provide a contrasting background for differentiating between differently coloured overlying hair strands. This enables certain shades of hair to be more visible to, or recognisable by, the hair colour technician or other user.

The first opening 104 is provided for insertion of a finger into the tubular body 102 in order to carry the weaving assistance apparatus 100 on a finger, for example a digitus medius or so-called “middle finger”. It is not essential to provide both the first opening 104 and the second opening 108, and so one of either the first or second openings can be closed.

In another example, for comfort, an inner sheath 116 can be disposed, for example coaxially, in the tubular body 102 for providing a comfortable fit for a finger, such as a snug fit. Hence, it should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the inner sheath 116 can be omitted. In this example, the inner sheath 116 is formed from a compressable or deformable foam material. Furthermore, the material from which the inner sheath 116 is formed can also be a breathable material. If desired, the inner sheath 116 can be removable and optionally replaceable with another inner sheath of a different internal radius in order to accommodate different sizes of fingers. In an alternative example, the inner sheath 116 can be shaped or profiled, for example by pre-moulding, to an expected shape of a finger so as to provide a snug fit with the finger.

In order to provide flexibility of use, the tubular body 102 can be arranged to carry an outer sheath (not shown) that is replaceable. The outer sheath has an outer surface that serves as the abutting surface 114 and different outer sheaths of different outer surface colour can be provided. A benefit of employing replaceable outer sheaths is that the weaving assistance apparatus can be modified by a user, for example, the colour technician, in order to select a suitable contrasting background for the strands of hair to be woven. Hence, the user can keep a supply of different coloured outer sheaths to enhance the usefulness of the weaving assistance apparatus 100. Additionally, the outer sheaths can be disposable for hygiene purposes.

Turning to FIGS. 2 and 3, in another embodiment, an alternative weaving assistance apparatus 200 comprises the tubular body 102 having the first and second openings 104, 108 as described above in relation to the above embodiment. However, the weaving assistance apparatus 200 also comprises a longitudinal lip portion 202 integrally formed with the tubular body 102. In this example, the longitudinal lip portion 202 provides the abutting surface 114.

The abutting surface 114 extends away from the tubular body 102, such as tangentially. Hence, the longitudinal lip portion 202 extends outwardly from the tubular body 102. Alternatively, the abutting surface 114 extends radially away from the tubular body 102. In this example, the longitudinal lip portion 202 is flexible. However, if desired, the longitudinal lip portion 202 can be formed from a resiliently deformable material. Indeed, the longitudinal lip portion 202 can be sufficiently inflexible to maintain its shape and orientation when pressure is not applied to it.

As described above in relation to the previous embodiment, the inner sheath 116 can be provided in the tubular body 102. However, and referring to FIG. 3 in particular, in order to provide a greater or more flexible ability to accommodate a finger snugly within the tubular body 102, a secondary, optional, inner sheath 300 can be provided for coaxial insertion in the inner sheath 116 in order to reduce a volume bounded by an internal radius of the inner sheath 116 in order to permit a smaller size of finger to fit snugly within the tubular body 102. For the avoidance of doubt, the secondary inner sheath can be used in relation to the first embodiment described herein.

Of course, other techniques can be employed for modifying space available within the tubular body 102 for receiving a finger. For example, the tubular body 102 can be formed as a split sleeve that can be fixed at desired diameters using any suitable fastener mechanism attached to or integrally formed with the outer surface of the tubular body 102, thereby making the tubular body 102 adjustable in another way with or without the assistance of the inner sheath and/or the secondary inner sheath.

Although, in this example, the longitudinal lip portion 202 is shown as a flat portion, i.e. is straight in cross-section, the skilled person should appreciate that the longitudinal lip portion 202 can be arcuate in cross-section. In this respect, the longitudinal lip portion 202 can arc about the tubular portion 102 as opposed to arcing away from the tubular portion 102.

In another embodiment (also shown in FIG. 3), a side of the tubular body 102 can comprise a longitudinal recess 302. The longitudinal recess 302 or indent is curved in cross-section and serves to prevent unintentional rotational slippage of the tubular body 102 around the finger inserted therein. Additionally, the longitudinal recess 302 serves to provide comfortable abutment of a digitus secundus or so-called “index finger” against the tubular body 102 if required. Furthermore, the longitudinal recess 302 serves to orientate the tubular body 302 carrying the abutting surface 114 at an optimal angle for overlaying strands of hair over the longitudinal lip portion 202. In another example, a number of longitudinal recesses can extend along the length of the tubular body 102 so that the user can select a preferred orientation of the abutting surface 114. Also, the longitudinal recess 302 can be used, if appropriately sited, for abutment with another finger, for example a digitus quartus or ring finger. Furthermore, another recess can be disposed approximately diametrically opposite the longitudinal recess 302 for location of another finger.

In yet another embodiment, the longitudinal lip portion 202 can be arranged to differ in colour by being arranged to receive portions of, for example, card or paper of different colours. The longitudinal lip portion 202 can carry a pair of parallel longitudinal grooves into which a coloured piece of card can be slid in order to provide a desired contrasting background. Alternatively, the longitudinal lip portion can 202 can carry a pouch or pocket having a transparent outwardly facing window and the coloured piece of card can be slid into the pouch or pocket. As a further alternative, the card or paper can be adhered to the longitudinal lip portion 202, for example one side of the paper or card can be self-adhesive.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, although in the previous embodiment the longitudinal lip portion 202 is integrally formed with the tubular body 102, in a further embodiment, the longitudinal lip portion 202 is removably attachable to the tubular body 102. In this example, the longitudinal lip portion 202 is removably attachable to the tubular body 102 by a so-called sliding dovetail joint, the sliding dovetail joint being similar to a tongue-and-groove joint, but where the tongue and groove are counterparts of a “dovetail”. Hence, in this example, the longitudinal lip portion 202 carries a longitudinally extending dovetail groove 400 and the tubular body 102 carries a longitudinally extending dovetail tongue 500. The longitudinal lip portion 202 can thus be attached to the tubular body 102 by sliding the longitudinal lip potion 202 onto the tubular body 102 by means of the sliding dovetail joint.

In a like manner to the provision of the outer sheaths of different colours described above, differently coloured longitudinal lip portions can be provided for selective use. The weaving assistance apparatus 200 can be modified by a user, for example the colour technician, in order to select a suitable contrasting background for the strands of hair to be woven by selecting an appropriately coloured longitudinal lip portion. Hence, the user can keep a supply of the different coloured longitudinal lip portions to enhance the usefulness of the weaving assistance apparatus. Additionally, the longitudinal lip portions can be disposable for hygiene purposes. For avoidance of doubt, the skilled person should appreciate that the other techniques for varying the contrasting background colour described above can be employed in relation to the removable longitudinal lip portion 202.

In relation to the above-described embodiments, the weaving assistance apparatus 100, 200 can be provided in different lengths to fit different lengths of fingers. Likewise, the length of the longitudinal lip portion can be varied.

In operation, the weaving assistance apparatus 100, 200 is placed over the middle finger 600 of a hand 602 of the hair colour technician or hair stylist and the index finger 604 is urged against the tubular body 102. If present, the index finger can lie against the longitudinal recess 302. A section of hair strands 606 from a head of a person where hair is to be treated are brought to overlie the upwardly facing abutting surface 114 so that the colour technician can easily visually identify strands of hair of a first colour overlying the abutting surface 114 that need to be selected from the remaining strands of hair of a second colour overlying the abutting surface 114. Recognition of the strands of hair of the first colour, i.e. differentiation from the strands of hair of the second colour, is facilitated by the substantially contrasting background provided. The colour technician then uses, for example, a metal-ended tail comb to weave out strands of hair of the first colour, the strands of hair selected are then placed on a foil for colouring according to any suitable known technique. Of course, other suitable techniques exist employing, for example, Easimeche™ sheets.

In relation to the above-described embodiments, the abutting surface 114 can be enhanced by provision of lateral or transverse grooves (not shown) therein. The grooves can have a depth of less than about 3 mm, for example about 1 mm. Additionally or alternatively, in order to reduce friction when the hair overlies the abutting surface 114, the abutting surface 114 can be coated with a friction reducing or low friction material, for example polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) sold under the brand name Teflon® by DuPont or any other suitable chemical, for example perfluoroalkoxy polymer resin (PFA) or fluorinated ethylene-propylene (FEP), in order to improve so-called “glide” of hair over the abutting surface 114.

In yet a further embodiment, the longitudinal lip portion 202 comprises, in addition to or as an alternative to (where appropriate) the constructional features mentioned above in relation to the longitudinal lip portion 202, a hair separator arrangement. In one example, the hair separator is provided as a set of spaced recesses 700 (FIG. 7) formed on an exposed longitudinal edge 702 of the longitudinal lip portion 202. As can be seen, when strands of hair overlie the longitudinal lip portion 202 and the longitudinal lip portion is maintained at an angle to the strands of hair, some strands of hair fall into the recesses and other strands of hair overlie teeth 704 between and defining the recesses 700. Consequently, the strands of hair are separated with respect to an initial plane in which they were lying and a clearance 706 is thereby formed through which the metal tail 708 of the metal-ended tail comb 710 can be inserted or slid, thereby facilitating weaving of the hair. In this regard, the hair can initially overlie the longitudinal lip portion 202 in substantially the same plane as the longitudinal lip portion 202 or substantially parallel thereto. The longitudinal lip portion 202 can then be rotated (about the longitudinal axis of the tubular body 102) away from the head from which the strands of hair extend, for example towards a user of the weaving assistance apparatus 100, 200, thereby causing separation of the strands of hair.

By way of another example, instead of providing the recesses 700, a region of the longitudinal lip portion 202 along the exposed longitudinal edge 702 thereof can be formed so as to rise and fall, for example undulate, thereby being capable of providing the same or a substantially similar separating effect as the recesses. If desired, instead of only a region of the longitudinal lip portion 202 rising and falling, a substantial part of the abutting surface 114 of the longitudinal lip portion 202 can be formed to rise and/or fall with respect to the abutting surface 114 along the length of the longitudinal lip portion 202, i.e. a raised or lowered portion of the longitudinal lip portion 202 extends transversely with respect to the longitudinal direction of extension of the longitudinal lip portion 202. In a further example, where the longitudinal lip portion 202 is removably replaceable, the longitudinal lip portions of different recess depths or sizes of surface changes can be provided for different applications. In yet another example, the longitudinal lip portion 202 can be provided with perforations therein so that the parts of the longitudinal lip portion 202 can be fringibly removed so that custom recesses can be formed. In any of the above examples, the “duty cycle” of the recesses and non-recesses can be, for example, 50%, although any other suitable duty cycle can be employed. Similarly, where the abutting surface 114 or a portion thereof rises and/or falls, a suitable duty cycle can be selected, for example 50%. The recesses and the other changes to the abutting surface 114 described above constitute contrasting and repeating dimensional surface changes that facilitate provision of a clearance between a first set of strands of hair and a second set of strands of hair. The clearance is such that the first set of strands of hair follows a first substantially planar path, and the second set of strands of hair follows a second substantially planar path, the first and second planar paths having the clearance therebetween. The clearance is, in this example, tunnel-like. The strands of hair of the first set of strands of hair and the second set of strands of hair are, in this example, interdigitated.

Although some or the above examples relate to disposable parts of the weaving assistance apparatus 100, 200, the skilled person should appreciate that the entire weaving assistance apparatus 100, 200 can be disposable if desired.

In all of the above embodiments, the tubular body 102 and/or the weaving assistance apparatus as a whole can be perceived as a type of sheath.

The weaving assistance apparatus 100, 200 can be used as a training tool to train stylists and/or colour technicians, thereby reducing lazy selection of hair strands.

In yet another embodiment (FIG. 8), the longitudinal lip portion 202 of any of the compatible previous embodiments can comprise a longitudinal crease extending from a first side 800 of the weaving assistance apparatus 200 to a second side 802 of the weaving assistance apparatus 200.

Of course, the skilled person should appreciate that the longitudinal lip portion 202 comprising the crease is not the only possible implementation, and the longitudinal lip portion 202 can instead comprise any suitable formation or deformation that provides a clearance beneath the hair that overlies the longitudinal lip portion 202. Hence, the formation or deformation serves to enable the hair to lie substantially in a plane whilst providing access beneath the hair. Consequently, the formation or deformation can, for example, be a recess of any suitable cross-section.

In operation, as suggested above, hair overlies the longitudinal lip portion 202 and, due to the crease or other formation or deformation, a clearance is provided beneath the hair to facilitate access beneath the hair by a weaving instrument, for example the metal ended tail comb 710 mentioned above, and hence weaving of the hair by a stylist or colour technician.

Although in the above embodiment, the longitudinal lip portion has been described as possessing the formation or deformation, the skilled person should appreciate that where an embodiment herein lacks the longitudinal lip portion, the tubular body 102 can comprise the formation or deformation.

In yet a further embodiment (FIG. 9), the weaving assistance apparatus 100 for the hair colour technician comprises a support-engaging portion 900 instead of the tubular body 102. The support-engaging portion 900 is, in this example, formed as a first broken ring portion 902 at a first end 904 and a second broken ring portion 906 at a second end 908. In other embodiments, the first and second broken ring portions need not be formed as broken rings, but as complete rings. However, in order to facilitate different sizes of finger, the broken-ring configuration is employed in this embodiment, thereby allowing for expansion of the respective apertures defined by the first and second ring portions 902, 906 in order to accommodate the differently sized fingers mentioned above.

Similar to the embodiment first described above, the support-engaging portion carries a longitudinal lip portion 202 having an abutting surface 114 for strands of hair to overlie when the weaving assistance apparatus 100 is in use. The abutting surface 114 is of a predetermined colour to provide a contrasting background for differentiating between differently coloured overlying hair strands. This enables certain shades of hair to be more visible to, or recognisable by, the hair colour technician or other user. Of course, the longitudinal lip portion 202 need not be provided and the abutting surface 114 can, if required, be provided by the support-engaging portion 900.

The apertures provided by the first and second support-engaging rings 902, 906 provide for insertion of a finger therethrough in order to carry the weaving assistance apparatus 100 on a finger, for example the digitus medius. The skilled person should, however, understand that the support-engaging portion 900 is an example of a support-engaging portion for engaging an item, for example a finger, which carries the weaving assistance apparatus 100. In this regard, the support-engaging portion is any arrangement or formation carried by the weaving assistance apparatus 100 to enable the weaving assistance apparatus 100 to be carried when in use.

While, in this example, longitudinally spaced rings are employed, the skilled person should appreciate that a first inner surface 910 and a second inner surface 912 of the support-engaging portion 900 are respectively substantially circumferential in order to receive a finger comfortably therein and so any suitable surface profile can be employed in order to receive a finger for carrying the weaving assistance apparatus 100. Indeed, in another embodiment, the support-engaging portion 900 can be arranged to receive the inner sheath 116 described earlier above. It should be appreciated that a first outer surface 914 and a second outer surface 916 of the support-engaging portion 900 can define any desired shape, although it is beneficial for the first outer surface 914 and/or the second outer surface 916 to be shaped so as to ensure comfortable abutment of the first ring portion 902 and for the second ring portion 906, for example by providing a recess, with another finger that is not passing through the support-engaging portion 900.

In operation, a finger, for example the digitus medius, is inserted longitudinally through the apertures provided by the first and second support-engaging rings 902, 906, thereby supporting the weaving assistance apparatus 100. In the event that the inner sheath 116 has been inserted longitudinally through the apertures provided by the first and second support-engaging rings 902, 906, the finger is simply inserted into the inner sheath 116. Similarly, if the finger is already carrying the inner sheath 116, the finger with inner sheath thereover is simply inserted longitudinally through the apertures provided by the first and second support-engaging rings 902, 906.

Thereafter, depending upon configuration of the weaving assistance apparatus 100, the weaving assistance apparatus 100 is used in accordance with the manner of use already described above.

In yet a further embodiment (FIGS. 10 to 13), the weaving assistance apparatus 200 comprises a support-engaging portion 900 as described in relation to the previous example. The support-engaging portion 900 is, in this example, formed as a first broken ring portion 902 and a second broken ring portion 906 both disposed towards the centre of the longitudinal lip portion 202. As previously described, the first and second broken ring portions 902, 906 need not be formed as broken rings, but could be formed as complete rings.

Similar to the embodiment first described above, the support-engaging portion carries a longitudinal lip portion 202 having an abutting surface 114 for strands of hair to overlie when the weaving assistance apparatus 100 is in use. The abutting surface 114 is of a predetermined colour to provide a contrasting background for differentiating between differently coloured overlying hair strands. This enables certain shades of hair to be more visible to, or recognisable by, the hair colour technician or other user. The edge of the longitudinal lip portion 202 which is furthermost with respect to the support-engaging portion 900 is provided with a row of teeth 1000. Each tooth is provided with a triangle-shaped indent 1001 at a furthermost end thereof, and a triangular recess 1002 is defined between each tooth 1000. The indents 1001 and recesses 1002 define alternating deep and shallow troughs along the furthermost edge of the longitudinal lip portion 202. When strands of hair overlie the longitudinal lip portion 202 and the longitudinal lip portion 202 is maintained at an angle with respect to the strands of hair, some strands of hair fall into the recesses 1002 and other strands of hair fall into the indents 1001 in the teeth 1000. Consequently, the strands of hair are separated with respect to an initial plane in which they were lying and a clearance is thereby formed through which the metal tail 708 of a metal-ended tail comb 710 can be inserted or slid, thereby facilitating weaving of the hair. In this regard, the hair can initially overlie the longitudinal lip portion 202 in substantially the same plane as the longitudinal lip portion 202 or substantially parallel thereto. The longitudinal lip portion 202 can then be rotated (about the longitudinal axis of the tubular body 102) away from the head from which the strands of hair extend, for example towards a user of the weaving assistance apparatus 100, 200, thereby causing separation of the strands of hair.

The apertures provided by the first and second support-engaging rings 902, 906 provide for insertion of a finger therethrough in order to carry the weaving assistance apparatus 100 on a finger, for example the digitus medius. The weaving assistance apparatus 100 of this example is also provided with a longitudinal recess 302 having a substantially semi-circular cross section disposed between the teeth 1000 and the support-engaging portion 900. The recess 302 is of a suitable dimension to place therein a finger, in particular a digitus secundus or index finger.

A row of small upstanding pegs 1003 are disposed longitudinally along the length of the weaving assistance apparatus 200 between the longitudinal recess 302 and the support-engaging portion 900. The pegs 1003 provide a comb which holds in position hair which overlies the longitudinal lip portion 202 during use. 

1. A weaving assistance apparatus for facilitating differentiation of hair colours, the apparatus comprising: a support-engaging portion having an opening at an end thereof for receiving a finger; and an abutting surface arranged to provide a contrasting background for differentiating between differently coloured overlying hair strands.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the support-engaging portion comprises the abutting surface.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the abutting surface extends away from the support-engaging portion.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a longitudinal lip portion extending outwardly from the support-engaging portion, the longitudinal lip portion comprising the abutting surface.
 5. (canceled)
 6. (canceled)
 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an inner sheath coaxially located within the support engaging portion for providing a comfortable fit for a finger.
 8. (canceled)
 9. (canceled)
 10. (canceled)
 11. (canceled)
 12. (canceled)
 13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the abutting surface comprises a coating to facilitate glide of hair strands over the abutting surface.
 14. (canceled)
 15. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the support-engaging portion comprises a longitudinal recess for abutting a finger thereagainst.
 16. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the support-engaging portion is a tubular body.
 17. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the abutting surface comprises lateral grooves formed therein.
 18. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal lip portion has an arcuate cross section.
 19. (canceled)
 20. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal lip portion is removable.
 21. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the abutting surface is replaceable.
 22. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an outer sheath comprising the abutting surface, the outer sheath having a predetermined externally facing surface colour.
 23. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the longitudinal lip portion comprises a changeable surface colour.
 24. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the abutting surface comprises contrasting repeating dimensional surface changes in order to facilitate separation of a clearance between a first set of strands of hair and a second set of strands of hair for weaving.
 25. A weaving assistance apparatus for facilitating weaving of strands of hair, the apparatus comprising: a support-engaging portion having an opening at an end thereof for receiving a finger; and an abutting surface for hair to overlie, the abutting surface comprising contrasting and repeating dimensional surface changes in order to facilitate provision of a clearance between a first set of strands of hair and a second set of strands of hair for weaving.
 26. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the abutting surface comprises a longitudinal lip portion extending away from the support-engaging portion.
 27. The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the longitudinal lip portion has a row of teeth at an edge furthermost from the support-engaging portion, wherein a series of troughs are defined in between adjacent teeth so that the first set of strands of hair during use overlie the teeth and the second set of strands of hair overlie the troughs to provide clearance between the first set of strands and the second set of strands.
 28. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the abutting surface has a series of longitudinally disposed upstanding pegs which act as a comb during use to keeps hair overlying the abutting surface in place.
 29. (canceled)
 30. (canceled)
 31. A method of weaving hair for selecting strands of hair having a predetermined colour from a section of hair, the method comprising: providing a weaving assistance apparatus claimed according to claim 1; attaching the weaving assistance apparatus to a finger of a hand; laying the section of hair over the abutting surface of the weaving assistance apparatus, the section of hair comprising strands of hair of a first colour and strands of hair of a second colour; and selectively separating strands of hair of a first colour from strands of hair of a second colour.
 32. (canceled) 